Naturist Images – Ego Versus Shadow

As a man of a certain age, and then a bit older, there is no question that all of the parts of my body aren’t in the best of physical conditions. For many, if not most of the men in the age range of 50s to … well older … virility often becomes the subject of critical focus. Let’s face it, though we can “get it up” after a fashion, there is no ability to “wow” anyone, let alone ourselves. I am approaching this subject with a bit of trepidation as almost any and every conversation that touches upon “manhood” riles up both men and women. And too often, the topic itself is prone to have too many feel that they have been invited to share their “dick” pics, usually at full mast.

In the world of naturism/nudism, there appears to be more tolerance about casual nudity that is full frontal, at least among those who self-identify as naturists/nudists. Yet, for all of that casual attitude to full-frontal male nudity, there is more that lays beneath the surface. I have noticed that images often speak for themselves. So what do the images tell the viewer? To be honest, I don’t have any answers in spite of my extensive background in psychology. The biggest reason for not being able to answer my own question is the fact that it is uniquely viewer dependent.

As readers here know, the appearance of a penis in one of my blog post images is about as far away from sexual stimulation or intent as one can find when a man’s genitals are visible. Yet, despite my objective of #NormalisingNaturism, I get sexual comments from men who would like nothing more than to engage in sexual activity with me. I know I’m not alone in this, as I have heard the same from quite a number of naturists/nudists, both male and female. Yet, I wonder about these “innocent” images. Just how innocent are we? What drives us, unconsciously, to post images of ourselves, images that don’t leave anything to the imagination? And, perhaps more importantly, why do we even take these photos or have them taken of us? Do people need or want to see us drinking tea, coffee, beer, or a glass of wine? How many times do we publicise via our images that we have gone for a walk, or a swim, or mowed the lawn?

These aren’t just a questions for men, as women who are naturists/nudists as well with images that tell stories of who we are, stories that often we are not aware of being told. Is a certain photo to record the honest fact about our body as we age? Is the photo more of a visual record for “Self” or is it to be shared with others? For example, the third image above is one with a full-frontal display. It states the facts of my skin colour, the physical tone of my body, the fact that I have purposefully groomed my body [though not why I have done so], the fact that I am indoors, and a few other similar statements. I had not thought of the image being in this blog post when it was taken. Like everyone, I don’t always have the full story as my “shadow” self has its own agenda which it doesn’t disclose very willingly to my thinking self, me “ego” self.

Besides all of that, it is just a photo. And like all photos, it doesn’t even capture the full physical story. I am not this slim as portrayed in the photo. I don’t know why the camera lies, but for my ego’s sake, I am sometimes glad it does. I mean who wants to appear at their worst?